Soft drink dispensing machines are well known. Examples of known beverage dispensers include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,781,310 and 4,801,048, both entitled "Beverage Dispenser," and commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 5,190,188, entitled "Convertible Beverage Dispenser." These patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Stated broadly, a soft drink dispensing machine is simply a device for chilling and for bringing together a flavored syrup and water (carbonated or non-carbonated, as may be appropriate) in the right proportions and for dispensing the drink into a cup. The soft drink dispensing machine thus has a number of components. The machine will include a source of one or more flavored syrups and a source of carbonated water, non-carbonated water, or both. The machine will include suitable plumbing for delivering the syrup and water to a mixing means. The machine will further include a means for chilling the water before it is mixed with the flavored syrup. And finally, the machine will include a component with which the customer interacts to dispense the soft drink through a nozzle and into a cup or other suitable container. This latter element will be referred to herein as the "customer interface unit."
The customer interface unit of a typical soft drink dispensing machine may have anywhere from one to twelve different dispensing stations. A dispensing station may be dedicated to a single flavor or may be capable of dispensing a variety of different flavors through a single nozzle. The customer interface unit further includes a means for actuating the machine to dispense a drink. In the case of a single-flavor nozzle, a lever is typically provided adjacent the nozzle, which is displaced by positioning a cup beneath the nozzle, thereby actuating the machine to dispense a soft drink through the nozzle until the cup is removed and the lever is released. In the case of a multi-flavor nozzle, the actuating mechanism will more typically consist of a series of buttons adjacent the nozzle, each button being associated with a different flavor. The customer positions a cup beneath the nozzle and presses one or more buttons to dispense one or more flavors of soft drink into the cup.
Formerly, the conventional practice was to position the customer interface unit of soft drink dispensing machines at a location where only the restaurant employees would have access to it. In recent years it has become more and more common to position the customer interface unit at a location where the restaurant patrons can have access to it, so as to permit the restaurant patrons to serve themselves. As used herein, the term "customer" shall be understood to include both restaurant employees and the consumers.
Depending upon the needs of the particular food service location, then, the customer interface unit of the soft drink machine may have one or a plurality of dispensing nozzles. The machine may be set up to dispense the same flavor from a number of nozzles, or it may be set up to dispense a number of different flavors, each through its own nozzle. In addition, some soft drink dispensing machines may have multi-flavor nozzles through which a variety of different flavors of soft drinks may be dispensed through a single nozzle, either in place of or in addition to dispensing nozzles dedicated to a single flavor. Because the number and type of nozzles and the number of flavors of soft drinks vary from installation to installation, soft drink machines have heretofore typically been custom configured for the particular installation. Because the plumbing interconnecting the syrup and water sources to the dispensing nozzles must be configured for the particular customer interface unit arrangement, custom-configuring a customer interface unit can be a time-consuming process. These various combinations and permutations of number of flavors, number of dispensing stations, and types of nozzles make for a large number of possible configurations for the customer interface unit of a soft drink dispensing machine. Consequently, conventional practice is to assess the restaurant operator's needs and then custom-manufacture a customer interface unit to address those needs. Thus a significant lead time is required to manufacture a customer interface unit to custom specifications, making it difficult to quickly fill orders for new equipment.
Thus there is a need for an improved customer interface unit for soft drink machines which facilitates configuration and assembly of the machine.
There is a further need for a customer interface unit for soft drink machines which reduces the amount of time required to fill orders for new equipment.
A further problem concerns the fact that soft drink requirements for a particular restaurant location may change over time. As consumer tastes change, as new flavors are introduced onto the market, or as the volume of business changes at a particular restaurant location, it may be desirable to add additional flavors or additional dispensing nozzles to an existing customer interface unit. Adding additional flavors, nozzles, or both can require running additional plumbing to the customer interface unit, removing and repositioning existing plumbing and valves, and adding new valves and nozzles. Reconfiguring a customer interface unit which has been custom-configured to a particular location can be a difficult and time-consuming process and is difficult to perform in the field.
Thus there is a need for an improved customer interface unit for soft drink machines which facilitates reconfiguration of the machine and which permits nozzles and associated plumbing to be added, removed, repositioned, or exchanged while in the field.
Another problem associated with conventional customer interface units is that the nozzles are positioned up underneath the customer interface unit in such a position that they can be difficult for the customer to see. This nozzle location can thus result in the customer not positioning his cup directly beneath the nozzle, with the result being spillage.